The Disney Touch: How a Daring Management Team Revived an Entertainment Empire

Outlines the transformation of the Disney Company from industry behemoth to cutting-edge corporation, detailing how a new management team infused new energy, imported fresh talent, and brought the company firmly into the black

After Walt Disney's death in 1966, his family-entertainment empire faltered and eventually became a prime takeover target. Business Week 's L.A. bureau chief Grover here describes the dazzling rescue effort sustained by Michael Eisner's management team, whose previous individual credits included the TV shows Cheers and Family Ties , and the films ET and Star Wars. After five years and an 800% profit rise, the Disney firm encompassed, among other ventures, two subsidiary movie studios; a TV, videocassette and theater licensing network; an international string of theme parks from Tokyo to Paris; a catalogue and retail-shop sales operation for Disney merchandise linked to such hit characters as "Little Mermaid; and a worldwide publishing enterprise for books and magazines. This comprehensive, sometimes sprawling account also covers the fierce copyright protection of Disney characters; environmental, political and contractual controversies; multimillion-dollar promotion drives; and, importantly, the stretching of the Disney image to include a 1990 movie about a prostitute, Pretty Woman , which became "the biggest-selling film in Disney history." 25,000 first printing; Fortune Book Club selection.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Grover, the Los Angeles Bureau Chief of Business Week magazine, chronicles Walt Disney Productions's Cinderella turnaround after its close escape from corporate raiders in 1984 (a cliffhanger described in John Taylor's Storming the Magic Kingdom , LJ 6/1/87). To the rescue came new CEO Michael Eisner and President Frank Wells, who reshaped a somnolent and loss-ridden studio into a global media/entertainment conglomerate. Grover describes how the chiefs squeezed more revenue out of the crown-jewel film library, exploited new outlets like videocassettes and cable TV, and revamped the theme parks. He skillfully relates Eisner's reaching out to mainstream Hollywood (Coppola, Spielberg) for creative allies and to Wall Street and Japan for financial partners, resulting in boffo box office hits like "Pretty Woman." General readers will enjoy this intriguing saga, which is recommended for business and entertainment collections.
- Michael Stevenson, Baker Lib., Harvard Bus iness Sch.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.